The Story of Red
by Helianthus8844
Summary: A group of kids from school decide to stage a play based on Little Red Riding Hood. But when one of the actors actually meets Red, stories they never should have heard come to light. Where will it take them?
1. Matthaya

She looked at herself in the mirror, first from the left and then from the right. She smiled and her reflection smiled back at her. She stuck out her tongue and her reflection blew a raspberry at her too. It made her laugh outright.

She threw back her head and shook her hair out of her eyes, then with a little twist of her hands tied it back in a ponytail. With a wink at her own reflection, she jumped up, grabbed her bag and left the room.

People were already starting to step out of their homes. Most were in cars on their way to work. Bright yellow buses took chattering crowds to class, the younger children sitting with their seatbelts on at the front of the bus, the older ones standing and balancing precariously waving hands wildly trying to explain something to friends; at the very back were the sleepy ones, leaning against the bus's side, cheeks glued to the window panes as they slept peacefully through the noise. She couldn't hear them of course, but she imagined them snoring softly, adding to the general cacophony. Most of her friends went to school in one or the other of these buses, but not she.

She craned her neck to look at the sky. It was a thin blue colour, dotted with wisps of milky white clouds. A tree beside her threw its branches overhead, its bare arms cracking her view of the sky in jagged lines. She took a deep breath, savoring the sharp, cold air. It was a beautiful day.

_Why would you want to be holed up in a jerking metal tin in this weather?_ She wondered. She pitied whoever didn't walk on such a day. Her friends always laughed at her. But, oh, she loved to walk!

She was early. The building was mostly empty; only a few faces that appeared in the corner of her eyes, then disappeared before she could take a closer look. She climbed up the stairs at a run, because she knew that the classroom at the farthest side of the long corridor on the top floor would be bustling. Sure enough, she could hear voices and exclamations from all the way down the corridor, loud in the empty building.

'It's a glorious day!'She announced as she stepped into the room.

'Mitti! We were wondering when you'd turn up, you're late.' Another girl reproached, hands on her hips.

'Sorry, I walked a little slow I guess.' Mitti smiled.

'And she still won't take the bus.' A loud sarcastic voice said.

Mitti didn't say anything, allowing her friend to pull her into a seat. The other girl was thin and lanky, with a pale pointed face and short hair that framed it. It kept falling on her face and she kept tossing it away; sometimes, she looked like she had an uncontrollable muscle twitch.

'Why don't you just grow it longer?'Mitti had once asked.

'Ugh...and have it hanging on my back and tickling me? No thanks!' She'd said. Mitti'd given up with a shrug. When Renee Salvere refused to be convinced, she could come up with the strangest logic. Mitti preferred to keep the peace.

'So. Where are we with the plans?' Mitti asked.

'Same place we were yesterday.' Renee said, turning down the corners of her lips. 'We've gone through the usual list of food stalls and fun houses, even a couple of dramas we could try if we wanted to be part of the last day's stage show. There're a lot of really nice things we could do, but they're all just old ideas that everyone does. Good. But predictable.'

'What's wrong with that?'

_Ugh. Why is this guy so annoying?_ Mitti thought.

'Because we want to stand out. This is our last year here, so we want a-a-' Mitti paused in thought, 'A bang! Something people will remember us for.'

'What so special about us?' He asked.

'Nothing's special about you obviously.' Renee said coldly.

Mitti pursed her lips. _Who'd asked this guy to be part of this team anyway?_

'Come on now, think, think!' Renee exclaimed. 'Ideas! I need new ideas. Every year we have a week-long school festival and we do the usual things, and earn some money over which we fight later. This year, we want to leave an impression, so I was thinking a performance on the last day should be IT. A real show-stopper. Now it's our job to come up with that little something, that particular performance that'll make our day!'

'Or our year. Or THE entire experience at this place.' Mitti said, more to herself than to anyone else. 'Where're we with performance pieces?' She asked.

'There were a few dramas we thought of.' Renee said, indicating.

A face emerged from behind an open laptop and Mitti had a good view of a shiny bald head and a blank expression. The boy handed her a list of stories and a few newspaper cuttings of theatre and movie reviews.

'Thanks. Nice haircut.' Mitti smiled. The boy grunted.

'Charles and I were searching for more stories we could work with.' Renee said.

'Give up already. Even if we find a good story, who's going to act? Grunt-a-sauros here?' The other boy snorted. Charles grunted again, shooting a vindictive look at him.

'Well, obviously not you.' Renee spat at him.

He definitely doesn't talk much, Mitti thought, glancing at Charles. He was sitting on the teacher's desk, cross-legged, hunched up over the screen. He was frowning at the screen, pretending to work hard.

_I think he can hear Lucas though._ Mitti told herself.

Lucas, at that moment was too busy with Renee to taunt Charles anymore.

'Yeah? And what about you? Always acting like such a know it all, when you can't do a thing!'

'I'm ten times more useful than you are!'

'Yeah, to losers like yourself!'

'Watch it-'

'Why, did I hit a nerve? A nerve of truth maybe?'

'No, you just described yourself!'

'I called YOU a loser, loser!'

'Trying to pull me into the team?'

'Shut up!'

'Look who's lost his cool now!'

'Who's shouting along with me?'

'I'm shouting to make my point!'

'What point?'

'That you're a useless prat that doesn't know a thing!'

'Oh I know things!'

'Bah! What things?'

'Don't try me!'

'You try US everyday! In that sarcastic voice! Like you're better than all of us!'

'Because I am!'

'Oh go talk to someone else!'

'Why, afraid of losing the fight?'

'No, because you're wasting my time!'

Mitti put her elbows on the desk, cupping her chin in her hands. She glanced from one furious face to another, watching them with wide eyes and a small smile. t was ridiculous, the way they kept going at each other twice a day, clawing like wildcats, in shouting matches that ran and doubled back on itself and ran back again. They fought because that's what they did. She waited patiently, for Renee to get too hoarse to shout back, or for Lucas to get too worked and start mumbling. She glanced at the other people in the classroom.

Ithian had his nose plastered to the window pane, squinting out at what Mitti knew was a sliver of space between this side of the building and the adjacent junior sections building, through which one could see the school gates. This was the hour when everyone, including the teachers, started arriving for the day and Ithian watched them with admirable patience.

_And stupidity._ Mitti thought. _That blank look on his face makes him look stupid. Not like Charles, who simply looks like he doesn't want you to find out what he's thinking_. At this thought, she glanced over at him and caught him staring at her. He quickly looked away.

'These two are so noisy.' A voice said on Mitti's other side and she turned to find Elain peering at the fight through half-closed eyes. Her long hair was pulled back into a tight hairdo, which made her look like a severe teacher. Except for her expression-bored.

'Noisy.' Elain repeated in the same flat tone. Mitti smiled and shrugged. She didn't mind the noise. She didn't mind the fight, even. She just wished Lucas'd be a little nicer towards Renee.

'I'm going to take a walk.' Elain said, then without waiting for an answer shuffled off towards the door.

_What for? It's not like she's going to find anything more interesting outside_. Mitti thought, watching the retreating hunched back covered by a tight black jacket. _Why does she wear that? It looks two sizes too small. It looks like it pinches her. Pinched back. Pinched face. Like that new woman next door, who looks like a witch. She even has a black cat. Wonder why the cat was staring at me like that this morning?_ Mitti's thoughts wandered off into a wild knot.

Renee sat down beside Mitti with a huff, breaking into her thoughts.

'Huh?'Mitti turned to her.

'I said, what've you got there?'

'Oh this?' Indicating, 'One of those papers that you handed me.'

'Which one?' Taking the sheet, 'Oh. Good old Red!'

Charles grunted a question.

'It's the Little Red Riding Hood review.' Renee said, waving the paper towards him. 'You know, the movie they released recently. Kids' story.'

'I don't mind them.' Mitti shrugged.

'Of course you don't, no one does. We all grew up with them, we each have our own childhood favourite.'

'Yours must've been the Princess and the Frog-tell me, you still dream of kissing a green prince?'Lucas called from across the room. They ignored him.

'Problem is, it's too silly for us.'

'Silly?'Mitti asked.

'You know, childish. What'd people think if our year started acting out fairy tales?'

'If we can pull off a good show, it can't be any worse than Julius Caesar or King Lear.' Lucas said in imitation of a similar delivery by Renee that morning before Mitti's arrival.

'Would you shut it?' Renee lashed out again.

'He's right.' Mitti said unexpectedly.

'Sorry?' Renee gaped at her, as did Lucas and Charles. Even Ithian glanced at her in shock.

'He's right.' Mitti repeated slowly, staring off into space.

'Hello! Earth to Mitti!' Renee waved her hands in front of Mitti's eyes. Mitti focused with effort on Renee's face, then glanced at Lucas.

'Sorry, I was just picturing it in my head. I said, he's right. We just have to pull it off.'

'Pull off a fairy tale?'

'Pfft. That'd be easy.' Mitti smiled an easy smile. 'But what if we pull off our very own version of the story?'

Charles grunted in question, eyebrows raised.

'Why not rewrite the story in our own way, then act it out? We keep the basic idea right, but change the...the colours, the details, the...you know...' She trailed off. 'Basically we keep the skeleton but make our own version of the story.' She looked around at them, wondering if she'd managed to get the point across. She had difficulty getting her daydreams across to Renee most days, she naturally thought she'd need another try to get her idea into her classmates' heads, but Ithian surprised her.

'Any ideas on what we might change for our version? Just an example? You said you were picturing it in your head.' He inquired.

'Well...' At this point Mitti realized the ridiculousness of her idea. 'I did think of having a male Red for example.'

Charles gave a sudden loud snort. Even Ithian's eternal patience seemed about to run out as he waved for her to continue.

'Lucas IS a redhead.' Mitti pointed out quietly.

'Yeah. Of course. Brilliant.' Lucas said sarcastically. But when he looked around, there were four very serious faces sizing him up.

'No way!' He yelped. 'You can't be serious!'

* * *

**Disclaimer : I do not own Little Red Riding Hood!**

****Just introducing the characters now.

**Read. Enjoy. Review.**


	2. Lucas

'No way!' He yelped. 'You can't be serious!' He glared at them. _Who do they think they are? As if I'd do what they say just because they said it!_

'Why not?' Renee asked, eyes narrowed.

_Because I won't give you the satisfaction._ Lucas thought.

'Because I think it's a stupid idea.' He said out loud.

'I think it's a great idea.' Renee crossed her arms.

'No you don't. You only say so because she's your friend.' Lucas mirrored her, putting a satisfied smile on his face. _Which isn't really an insult at all. Stupid!_ He thought to himself.

'What's wrong with that?' She hissed.

'I think you know.' He replied cruelly.

'Spit it out.'

'It's a stupid idea, but you say it's good because you pretend you're her friend. And you want her to think so too.'

'That's enough.'

'You're just playing with her. Being a fake. If you were a real friend, you would just tell her the truth.'

'I said, that's enough.'

'You know what? It's not just her. It's everything. The singing, the drama club, the sketches. You're just make-believe. Those things you do? It's ordinary. Even I could do that. Only I don't.'

'Enough!'

'You know why I don't? Because I don't pretend to be someone I'm not. I'm not fake!'

'Lucas that's enough!' This time it was Mitti. She was on her feet, staring at Renee, everyone looking at her. Lucas looked at her too.

_Why do I do that?_ He wondered. _I can never stop myself. I always go too far._ He was breathing hard._ I'm rude. And selfish._ He glanced at Renee. She was gritting her teeth, her hands clenched in fists, her gaze going blindly through him. He thought he saw her eyes begin to water.

_Serves her right!_ He wanted to shout out at everyone. He despised her. Her attitude, her personality, her skills, or her lack of them. _The very sight of her makes me sick._ A tear slid down her cheeks, past her trembling lips.

_Now everyone blames me. Naturally. They think I'm the bad guy. Go then._ He thought silently to them. _Go comfort her. Suck up to her. The fake that she is-go on!_ At this point, he stole a peek at Mitti. He was afraid of looking directly, afraid of catching her eye.

She was still standing where she'd risen, motionless, wordless, only looking on at Renee.

_I suppose she can't see more than the side of her face. Why doesn't she go do something? He wondered. Maybe hug Renee? Does she really not see she's crying?_ He realized that couldn't be, because Renee's shoulders were visibly trembling with each wave of tears.

He stole another glance at Mitti. She was looking steadily at her friend, thoughtfully. Blind to the rest of us. A strange look passed momentarily over her face. It made his blood boil.

_She didn't hear a thing I said!_ He realized with a jolt. _She isn't thinking right! She's thinking of that no-good, feeling sorry for her, caring for her! What is she, crazy_? Lucas realized then that all he'd been saying till then had been for the benefit of the others. He hadn't wanted to upset Renee. He'd wanted the others to see her for what she really was. And her anger'd be the icing on the cake; only, it hadn't quite worked out right.

_Instead of hating her, they hate ME. She's upset of course. Not that it helps in anyway._

'So you have it. I'm not playing the part.' Lucas ended rather lamely he thought.

Mitti shot him a warning look, frowning. There was no heat-she wasn't angry. But Lucas realized that he'd said enough. He felt a sudden pang of resentment.

_How's Renee any better than me? Why do they all bother about her and not care about me?_ He watched Mitti gently guide Renee to a seat and present her with a handkerchief, then sit down opposite her, silent. The others gathered wordlessly around them. Ithian shot him a disapproving look. And the look in Charles' eyes? Touch her and you die .Lucas had a sudden urge to laugh at his fate. Instead, he dropped down on a chair farthest from them and turned his back to them. They began to murmur slowly, then conversation swelled and he realized they were back on the topic of the festival. He turned a deaf ear and became lost in his own thoughts.

'Lucas!' A voice said loudly.

'Huh?' Lucas jumped and looked around.

'Pass me your eraser will you?' Elain said in her peculiar nasal voice.

'Oh.' He handed it to her. 'Where'd yours go?'

'Lost.'

'Right.'

'Thanks.' Returning it.

'Whatever.'

'I heard.'

'What?'

'About Renee.'

'So?' He said defensively, his clenching his jaws.

'You should apologies.'

'To that-' He stopped short; he couldn't think of a bad enough word.

'To Mitti.'

'Huh?' He was pulled up short.

'All those things-they insulted her too.'

'Hmmmnnnh.' He hadn't actually thought of that.

'Apologize.'

'Why do you care?' He said, annoyed.

'Because when Mitti's upset, I can't have lunch.'

'What?!'

'You heard me.'

'I'm not sure I heard right.'

'When she's busy cheering up Renee, she ignores the rest of us. She doesn't save a chair for me in the cafeteria at lunch.'

'That's what bothers you?' He said incredulously.

'No chair, no lunch.'

_This is the stupidest thing I've heard today._ He looked at Elain's droopy eyelids and sleepy expression. _Is she serious?_

'Is she upset?' He asked, suddenly thoughtful.

'Not for herself. For Renee.'

'I don't care then.' He shrugged.

'SILENCE!'The teacher roared from the front of the class. Lucas jumped, but Elain's expression did not change.

_Doesn't this girl ever react to anything?_ He wondered.

He looked at the back of Mitti's head, trying to bore into her thoughts.

_I'll say sorry._ He made up his mind, remembering that hardly anyone was ever nice to him.

* * *

**Disclaimer : I do not own Little Red Riding Hood!**

Just introducing the characters now.

**Read. Enjoy. Review.**


	3. Walk Home

'I'll come with you.' Mitti replied to Renee, ignoring her spluttering.

'Mitti-' Renee began again.

'Shut up. I can't hear you!' Mitti stuffed her fingers into her ears.

'I'll be fine! You don't have to take me home!' Renee gestured at her.

'La la la...' Mitti pretended not to hear.

'Mitti!'

'Dum ti tum ti hum...'

'Oh, come on!' Renee cast around her thoughts. 'It's in the complete opposite direction from your place!'

'So I'll have a longer, more enjoyable walk home than usual.'

'No, you don't get to do this.'

'I'm doing it.'

'Please?'

'Nope.'

'But you're the one who keeps saying it!'

'What?'

'That he's not worth getting upset over. That he's not worth reacting to.'

'He isn't!'

'Well then, isn't you coming with me to cheer me up a reaction to him?'

'I-' Mitti paused, 'It's a reaction to you being upset, not to him.'

'Urgh.'

'Yeah.' Mitti smiled.

'Look, I need to learn to ignore him. You coming along won't help. AT ALL. So please let me go!'

'Nuhhh...'

'Look, I need to THINK. To get my head clear.'

Mitti looked at Renee. Her face was swollen and her eyes were red.

_Don't pretend to smile, I can see right through you._ Mitti tried to say with her eyes.

'Please, Mitti?'

_What's wrong with him?!_ Mitti was suddenly furious with Lucas. _Why can't he give her a rest? Arguments are one thing, shouting matches and stepping on toes, but what he said today was downright cruel! _She carefully looked Renee up and down.

_She's right._ Mitti realized. _She needs to clear her head._

'I'll wait for the bus.' Mitti relented.

'Mitti-' Renee began again.

'For the bus.'

Renee snapped her mouth shut and the two of them stood a little removed from the rest of the students in wait.

'If you need a hanky-' Mitti started to say as Renee was about to step onto the bus.

'I won't cry anymore, I promise.'

'Alright.' Mitti gave her a small smile. 'But if you need it still, just put your head out of the window and shout for me.'

'I will. Even if it's the middle of the night.' Renee winked.

_Especially if it's the middle of the night._ But Mitti didn't say anything. She waited for the bus to start off, then turned around and began her walk home.

Mitti heard loud footsteps on the pavement behind her. Someone ran up, then wordlessly began walking beside her.

_What now?_ She wondered. Suddenly, she felt very tired. _I don't feel like talking to him now._

Lucas had his hands shoved deep in his pockets, scowling furiously ahead of him as he pounded the pavement beside her.

_Well? Isn't he going to say anything?_ She looked at him from the corner of her eyes._ Look at that expression on his face! He doesn't know he's the one in the wrong does he? Oh dear, he looks so silly with that fierce frown plastered on._

Lucas showed no signs of opening his mouth.

_Why does he hate Renee so much? I don't think he knows himself. He just reacts to her...without thinking. Probably can't stop himself._

Lucas cleared his throat.

_Question is, why don't I despise him for it?_ Mitti asked herself as she unexpectedly realized she wasn't angry at Lucas. _I don't know. I think I feel a little sorry for him._

'I heard you.' Lucas said.

'Heard what?' Mitti asked, confused.

'Talking to Renee.' He paused. 'Telling her to ignore me.'

'Oh.' _Telling her you're not worth it._

'Telling her I'm not worth it.'

She remained silent.

'Did you mean it?' He steeled himself. 'That I'm not worth it?'

'Yes.' _But that doesn't mean it's the end of the story._

'Right.'

_Right? That's all he's gonna say?_ Mitti stopped herself from snorting with difficulty.

'Since when?'

'Since when what?'

'Did you think I'm not worth it?'

'Since you started picking on her for no reason.'

'Because I pick on her, I'm no good?' He couldn't stop his voice from rising a little.

'I never said you're no good.' _Idiot._

'What'd you say?'

'That because you're no special friend of hers and because you dislike her for no reason, I don't see why she should bother what you say.' _For her, you're not worth the trouble. In what planet does it make you worthless exactly?_

'So I'm worth it, but to other people?' He said, puzzled.

'Something like it.' _What you're worth to people is determined by how you act towards them._

'I don't think I get it.'

'I don't think I do either.' _Even I don't get what I say most of the time._

'So what're you saying? That I'm bad for her, but not bad in general?'

'Close, I guess.' _Why does he hate her?_

'So you don't think I'm worthless?' He sounded hopeful.

'Have you ever treated me bad or said something wrong?' _I hope he hasn't, I can't remember if he has!_

'I don't think so.'

'Well then you're alright in my books.' _Duh._

'Even if, say, I were a really really bad guy?'

'Are you?' _What's with him today?_

'I don't know...'

'Murdered anyone recently?' _Ah, is he feeling sorry now?_

'Shut up and answer the question.'

'I know you're not that person, you're just a bit of an over-reactive fool.' _And how do I shut up and still answer?_

'How do you know?'

'Instinct?' She shrugged. 'Wild wish? Maybe I just know you for long enough?'

'What DO you know?'

'Enough. I hope.'

'Which is?'

'That you used to be a nice enough person till you started hanging out with THEM.' She knew he understood she meant the group of unkempt-looking boys he'd taken to hanging out with recently.

'You really hate them don't you?'

'Despise is closer.' _What's to like?_

'But I'm not a nice person anymore?'

'Not as much.' _Did I say too much?_

'So it adds up to-you should despise me. Only you don't act like.'

'You want me to?' She laughed outright.

'Just thought you would.'

'I still have hope.' _See? You're not so bad after all._

'That I'll turn out the angel?' He said sarcastically.

'That you'd stop hanging out with them for a start.' _Here we go again._

'Last time I checked, they were nicer to me than the all other trash in class.' He said angrily, but unconvincingly

'You don't try hard enough. How about being a little nicer yourself?' _Oh boy._

'To those-' And he went on a tirade of abuse.

_I was wondering what'd happened to him...seemed too calm almost. Now he's back to being crappy._ She watched him work himself to a temper. _At least I know that he's the same old guy from way back. Only with a wider vocabulary._

Lucas displayed some choice words. Mitti shook her head to herself, smiling.

'What're you laughing at?' Lucas asked.

'Am I?' _Maybe I shouldn't irritate him further._

'Smiling,then.' He snapped.

'You.'

'Why?' He narrowed his eyes.

'You're being silly.'

'How?'

'What'd you want to say to me in the first place? Before all this?' She made a wide all-encompassing gesture with her hands. _Being silly with and about everything._

'What?' He frowned, trying to remember. 'Oh. Right. I was going to apologize.'

'For?' She raised her eyebrows.

'Everything I said this morning. I was being rude to you too.'

Mitti pursed her lips.

'You angry?' He asked quietly.

'Yes.'

'I'm sorry.'

'You're not.' She looked away from him. She suddenly wished he'd go away.

'Am.'

'I'm angry at what you said to her. You're not sorry for THAT.'

'No.' Low growl almost. 'I'm sorry for being bad to you.'

'Really?' She was the sarcastic one now. 'I didn't notice.'

'Mitti!'

'What?!'

'I said I was sorry!'

'I didn't notice. That you were insulting me too. You didn't mean it, so it's ok.' She paused, wondering if she should go on. 'But why do you hate her so?'

'I just do.' He answered shortly. Without another word, he spun around and walked down a different fork in the road, leaving Mitti to go home on her own. She looked at his retreating back.

_Well that's nice!_ She snorted._ Leaving a lady stranded simply because he doesn't know the answer to a question._ She tried to send some of her anger to him telepathically. It left her feeling foolish. _I can't get angry at him no matter how much I try! Every time I just picture him like he was before._

With a last attempt at his due fury, she gave up and resumed her walk home.

* * *

**Disclaimer : I do not own Little Red Riding Hood!**

So Lucas decides to try to explain, but does it make things better or more complicated?

**Read. Enjoy. Review.**


	4. Rantings

_Crazy kid._ Lucas smiled bemusedly. _I don't think I get her._

There was a tinkling of chimes somewhere as the door swung open and a girl walked in. Lucas caught sight of some of the pedestrians gaping at her before the door shut behind her. The sight made his smile widen. The girl noticed and raised an eyebrow.

'They're looking at you again.' He explained.

She rolled her eyes, tucking her hair behind her ears. For a moment, Lucas was mesmerized at the sight of the inky black strands tipped with blood red. He shook his head to clear it; it'd been months and he still wasn't used to it.

'How was school?' The girl asked.

'Ok.' He shrugged.

'Right.' She put on her apron.

_Doesn't talk much._ Lucas thought, watching her begin to arrange the cupcakes on the display rack.

Lettie and Lucas worked at the tiny eatery that bustled with throngs of people on most days. There were no customers in at the moment and Lucas was taking the opportunity to rearrange the buffet table before the dinner crowd began arriving.

'How was your day?' Lucas asked politely. He was rather in awe of this girl who acted like the classic forbidding elder sister.

'Ok.'

'Good.' _Good indeed._

The two worked in silence.

_Wonder why she doesn't talk much. Everyone I've worked with before talks one time or the other._ _Uncomfortable silence._

'Fun day at school.' Not really, but let's try. 'We've the school festival coming up.' He waited. _What, no questions? _'I think we're doing a play.'

Lettie nodded noncommittally.

'It's a funny one actually.' _Maybe humour'll work._ 'It's Little Red Riding Hood. Only with a boy as Red.'

Lettie looked up, startled, but Lucas was looking away and didn't notice. She quickly wiped her face blank.

_What? Still no reaction? Nice. So everywhere I go, it's all crazy people. Why can't I ever end up in normal company? At school it's all of THEM, here it's this psycho-_

At this point he got distracted by Lettie's colourful head beside the snow-white cake that was the day's special.

_Mad._ Lucas shook his head a tiny fraction of an inch to himself. _Who on Earth wants hair like that? Complete joker, this one. Doesn't even talk. What's her problem? Cat got your tongue?_ In his head, he pretended putting the question to her like that. _Probably will bite my head off. That expression on her face-looks like she got up on the wrong side of the bed._

In reality, Lettie's face was as smooth as a doll's.

_Like Elain almost. Doesn't react to anything. Should be put in an institution. Both of them._

Here Lettie put a knife on a scarlet napkin beside the cake.

_Where does she come from? Where does she live? Who is she? For all anyone knows, she could be a serial killer from goodness knows where, hiding out here._ Lucas observed her suspiciously. _Keeps to herself, doesn't let anyone into her head, sharp, clean, methodical -who knows? Might be an escaped con artist for all I know. Probably is. Swindled millions by trickery, but got ratted out by accomplices. Made a run for it. Waiting for her chance to get back at them. Just look at her! All the signs of a criminal._

Lettie glanced at him coldly.

_Not that I know what a criminal's like anyway._ Lucas thought nervously, looking back at her.

Lettie held the gaze for a long time.

_Total psycho. Weirdo. I hope she's not a murderer._ Lucas shrunk under the steady look. He wouldn't admit to himself that he was both fascinated and a little afraid of his fellow employee.

'Yes?' Lettie asked.

'Sorry.' Lucas mumbled, looking away. After a while, he glanced back to find her still staring at him. 'I ah...well...' He attempted to say.

'Are too curious.' She finished for him.

_How'd she know? _Taken aback, he gaped with his mouth open.

'It's obvious. You stare too much.' She continued as if in answer to his question. 'And you frown a bit when you think too hard.'

'Okay.' He nodded nervously and resumed working. A few seconds passed before it struck him. 'So you stare at me too.'

'Yes.' Suddenly, she grinned impishly.

'Why?' His courage increased tenfold when he realized she wasn't going to back him to a wall with a knife at his throat.

'I like observing people.' She said simply, resuming her work too.

'Of course.' _Well, it is an interesting pastime I suppose._

'What're you thinking?' She asked after a few minutes.

'Trying to list all the interesting people I know.' He replied.

'How many?' She said with the kind of smile that appears on every grown-up's face when talking to a child.

'Not many.' He admitted. She didn't say anything. 'What about you?'

'Me?'

'How many do you know?'

Lettie looked him up and down critically.

_Maybe she thinks I'm being too nosy._

'Too many to count.' She decided to answer after all.

'You must've travelled a lot.'

'A bit.'

'No wonder you know so many.'

'You want to meet some, then?'

'Wouldn't I!' He exclaimed eagerly. _Where're we going with this? Is she going to offer to introduce me to some? Will she take me to meet them? What if they're part of her gang? And they take all my stuff and leave me bleeding in the gutters with a bullet in my chest? How'll I refuse?_

'Open your eyes.' She said, taking him unawares.

'What?'

'Open your eyes.' She repeated. 'Everyone around you is interesting.'

'Yeah,they are.' He returned sarcastically. _If stupid is interesting that is. If regular and normal are interesting._ He waited for her to add something, but she didn't. She almost seemed to have read his thoughts and might've been offended by them.

'You can't be serious.'

'Why not?' She raised an eyebrow again.

'Because I'm surrounded by the most boring people on the planet.'

'All of them?'

'Boring. All of them. Well, except this one girl in my class that I don't really get because she's a little crazy. But boring, the rest of them.'

She didn't respond.

_Huh. Interesting? They're all a bunch of morons!_ Lucas pictured some of his acquaintances. _Still. She never talks._

'You really think they're all interesting?' He pretended to wonder aloud, casting her a look out of the corner of his eyes.

She nodded.

'You don't know them.'

'Are they human or not?'

_What's that supposed to mean?_ Lucas was taken aback.

'I think they are.' _Well, what else are they?_

'Then they can't be boring.'

'Why not?'

She tapped her temple in answer.

'Because they're crazy?' Lucas said uncertainly.

She looked up at him.

'I didn't quite mean it like that. But yes, it could be a reason.'

'What did you mean?'

'The mind.'

'What mind?'

'Everyone's minds. Everyone has a different mind.'

'That makes them interesting?'

'Do you know what I'm thinking right now?'

'Errr...no.' _Should I?_

'Do you know what I'm usually thinking of?'

'Not at all...' _I don't even know you properly!_

'Take a situation, any situation. Put me in it. Do you know how I'll act in it?'

'I can imagine...' _Hey, this is the first time we're having a proper conversation! I'm not supposed to be able to do more than guess and imagine._

'Do you know for sure?'

'Of course not!' Lucas was getting a little annoyed.

'For how long do you see me in a day?'

'As long as I work here.' _Total change of subject?_

'How many days a week?'

'Five?'What does it matter?

'How many months now?'

'Several.' _Okay..._

'So all this time you've been working with me and you don't even know me.' She said disdainfully.

'Hey! It's not like you're the talker of the century!' Lucas said in a heated voice. 'This is the first time you're even talking properly to me! How do you expect me to get to know you if you don't talk?'

'Don't I talk?'

'Oh you do. Tremendously.'

'I do indeed.' She agreed seemingly seriously. 'I ask you about your day and you do likewise.'

'That's nothing.' Lucas snapped.

'That's something. That's not enough, you mean.'

'Yeah. That's not enough.' _Alright. This conversation is sounding like my teacher's jabbering._

'So you agree there's more to it?'

_Nothing to disagree._ Lucas nodded. He was losing concentration.

'What about the people you see everyday?'

'What about them?' Lucas concealed a yawn.

'Do you go around asking them personal questions?'

'What're you playing at?'

'If you don't, how do you say that you know them?'

'I suppose I don't, then.' _Why do I feel that I've just received a delicate insult?_

'Then how do you know they're boring?'

Lucas folded his arms and leaned back on one of the tables. He realized he was mirroring Lettie, who was leaning on the glass-fronted display-case. Her stern expression was completely out of place among the colourful pastries and the edible glitter decorations.

_Well. Isn't she smart?_ Lucas realized he'd been backed into a corner. He didn't like her any better for it. He stared back defiantly at her, feeling more and more foolish under her piercing eyes. _It's like she can see right through me. It's not a nice feeling._

She continued staring him down coldly.

_Haughty. Jerk._

'So what?' He finally said aloud.

'So what?' She repeated making it sound like a mock.

'Why do you care?'

'I don't.'

_Not the expected answer._ Lucas thought in surprise, but kept his face carefully impassive.

'You're the one who said you wanted to meet interesting people.'

'Still haven't met any.' He gestured the obvious.

'You don't know if you have.'

'Fine. I don't.' He said mincingly.

He waited. She returned to work.

'That's it? You won't help me get to know some?' His intrigue at her was worth swallowing his pride.

'I told you. Open your eyes.'

'So...you're saying if I look at people more carefully, I'll find them interesting?'

'You'll find that you don't know much at all. And that'll interest you to find out more.'

'Humph.' _Nut job. A case for the shrink. Who on Earth talks like this? Makes no sense. Weird, man!_

She let him wander off in thought. He pulled himself out of his reveries with some effort.

'I think you're talking trash.'

'Of course.'

'What?!'

'I shouldn't have hoped all of it would bypass your thick skull.'

'You think I'm stupid?' _Very obvious insult this time._

'I said as much.'

'Look lady, I don't know you but neither do you know me and you have no idea who I am and you have no right to insult me!' Lucas shouted. Or what he shouted meant it; with added obscenities.

'Prove I'm wrong then.'

'Is this a game for you?'

'Prove I'm wrong.'

'You mean prove I'm not stupid?'

'Interpret it as you will.'

'By, what, opening my eyes wider?' He sneered. 'Are YOU smart enough to see it when I do?'

'You'll have to make me see won't you?' She replied unfazed. 'I want to hear.'

'Hear what?'

'About what you see. What you find out about people. Then I'll point out the interesting parts so you won't have difficulty finding them.'

'You're enjoying this nonsense aren't you?'

It wasn't meant to be answered. She laughed softly.

'Fine. I'll come tell you what I SEE.' He glaredat her. 'And I'll prove that not only are the people around me stupid, so are you.'

'Whatever.' She drawled, making him jump.

_I can't let her get to me!_ He chided himself. _Is she soft in the head or something?_ He watched her moving purposefully around. _I bet Renee or Charles'd be wearing a self-satisfied smile at this point._

She was back to her blank face.

_I don't trust her. And I don't like her._

He resumed work silently.

He was putting on his coat at the end of his shift, still heaping the same judgment on her, when she spoke.

'I'll be waiting for those reports tomorrow.'

'Whatever.' _I'll show you._

He was about to walk out when it struck him and he turned around at the doorway and gave an amused smile in her direction.

She actually talked. Like, really TALKED. Because I mentioned Little Red Riding Hood. Chuckling, he stepped out.

* * *

**Disclaimer : I do not own Little Red Riding Hood!**

This is a look into Lucas's head. Jumps around with the strangest conclusions and is generally not very trusting. At least that's what it seems like. He's seems to be getting a life all of his own-it's a funny thought, but maybe he's going to take over this story...

Aaaaahhh! I'll have to keep an eye on him!

**Read. Enjoy. Please review.**


	5. Sanctuary

The cat lay curled up in front of the door.

_What a strange place to choose. _Mitti thought.

She dug deep inside her pocket.

_Ah! Found it._ She pulled out her keys.

'Meow.'

_So it can talk then!_ She looked with amusement at the cat observing her haughtily._ I'd thought it was mute-hasn't made a sound since the old lady moved in with it. Can't say the same for her though._ She smiled as the sound of pots and pans banging around on the stove came from next door. The two of them sized each other up for a few moments.

_I love those eyes._ She thought for the thousandth time, watching the unblinking cat. _It has beautiful jewel-like eyes, one blue and one green._ _Like candies._ Her smile widened.

The cat rose gracefully and stretched, its black fur glittering in the light of the hallway lamp.

'Meow.' It seemed to say in a bored voice as it disappeared with a flick of its tail.

Chuckling, she entered the apartment.

_Looks like no one's home yet. Where's the switch now?_ She fumbled around in the dark. With a soft click, the place became bathed in light. She slipped off her shoes beside the door and padded bare-footed to her room, switching on more lights on the way.

_It's alright at night, it's supposed to be dark, but I hate it when there's no light in the middle of the day. Why'd we decide on this place anyway? Apartments on either side-the only windows in the house are at the back in the two bedrooms._ At this point, she opened the door to her room. The sight inside instantly lifted her mood.

The window was closed but the curtains were thrown open and one wall of the room was painted orange in the late afternoon sunshine. The slanting rays also fell on part of the bed and the deep blue sheets seemed to glow and tinge the other walls a pale blue colour. She stepped forward and sunk into the large soft rug spread in the middle of the room, letting her mind go blank as she savoured the feeling of being shut out from the rest of the world. This was her private sanctuary-where everything was where she'd last kept it and no one touched anything except herself. She closed her eyes.

_This is where I think and I dream._ She thought to herself. It was her daily ritual; taking a moment to unwind.

When she opened her eyes again, they were brighter and more liquid. Though she couldn't see them herself, anyone seeing at her then would find in her an open book, ready to talk. So her eyes said.

_Finally. I get to THINK._ She threw the window wide open, leaning out to look at the tree growing in a little square of land at the back of the building. It was very tall, almost three stories high, some of its branches level with her window on the second floor. No one in their building knew what the tree was called, but Mitti loved it. Especially in summer, when it became bedecked in scarlet bloom. She'd discovered one day long ago that the flowers were so brilliant that when one looked at the tree in full bloom the green leaves almost became invisible and it seemed to be dressed all in scarlet. It was late autumn now though, and though it never became totally bare in winter, its foliage did become less dense in preparation for it.

She let out a long sigh.

_What was that all about?_ Her entire day rushed down on her, trying to overwhelm her. She pictured Renee and Lucas arguing.

_I should've stopped him. Her. Both. I'm the one who should stop them both. Yet every time I just stand and watch. What good am I?_ She cursed herself in frustration. _I feel like I should keep myself out of it. Not just this, but everything. _She flopped down on her bed and shut her eyes again. _I'm useless._ She imagined Lucas telling her that. _He'd be right for once. Well, it's not like he's never right, it's just that the rest of them are too disgusted with him to notice it. Or to want to admit it._ One by one she pictured everyone's faces. Renee, Charles, Ithian, Elain, everyone else too, on various occasions when Lucas'd decided to open his mouth. _They dislike the very sight of him._ She thought with a humourless laugh. _Not that he's so bad really. But what's the point if I'm the only one who thinks that? If I can stop them jumping down each other's throats so much...I can. I just don't. Because I feel like I'm being too nosy. Because I don't want to mess things between other people. Even though it's messed already. Gaah! Stupid and useless me! I try to stay out of other people's business, but really all I end up doing is distancing myself from other people._ She bit her lips, deep in thought._ I don't talk unless someone talks to me. I'm selfish._ The thought made her depressed, so she pushed it away.

_What was Lucas so worked up about today?_ She wondered._ Yeah he's rude and no-good everyday, but what was all that about, after school?_ She became hopeful for a bit. Maybe he was finally coming to his senses.

_If he would only stop talking to them!_ Now she pictured the two boys from another school that Lucas'd pointed out months earlier. He said they'd met at the shop he worked in after classes. She'd hated their look-not the unkempt hair, not the fashionably tattered jeans. Something about their air. The look in their eyes. Their lips. She'd noticed their lips; the first thing she noticed about them.

'What's with those lips?' She'd asked, feeling curious despite herself.

'What?!' Lucas'd sounded surprised.

'Their lips. They look dead.'

'Oh. It's the stain I guess.'

'Stain?' She'd been puzzled for only a moment. 'They smoke?!' She'd almost shouted at him. And they'd argued. About whether or not it was right to smoke at their age. They were only kids after all.

_Well, not really argued. I don't think I argued with people. Never the whole Renee-Lucas style "I know better than you" stuff at any rate. But I do have my opinions._

_And now I think about it, we're not really kids. Not that young anymore._

Lucas'd never attempted to introduce the boys to her. But she'd hated them still. A part of her told her that Lucas wouldn't be so close to turning out to be an unsocial dropout and a junkie if it weren't for Them. _If they disappeared, it wouldn't be so bad. Not bad at all._

_Not many things keep him anchored to sanity._ She thought. _But there's some of that chimp from way back still left. And though he's a real pain in company, he still has that urge to make people talk. If only he finds better company..._

Slowly, she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

**Disclaimer : I do not own Little Red Riding Hood!**

A double update!

**Read. Enjoy. Please review.**


	6. Midnight Walk

_Cold._ Mitti thought. _So cold. It tickles._

She turned her head a little. Her eyes fluttered open. She blinked slowly, trying to chase away the sleep.

'Don't you want to eat?' A sweet voice asked her.

Mitti answered with a tired smile. She sat up and rubbed her eyes vigorously, then stretched. She yawned, contemplating getting back under the covers.

'When did you get back?' Mitti yawned again.

'A while.' Her mother replied, reaching for the shutters. 'You've been asleep for hours, since before we were back.'

'Mmnnnhh.' Mitti stretched again. 'Leave a crack.' She nodded to her mother as she attempted to close the window.

_Hours? I didn't know I was that tired._

'Feeling sick?' Her mother put a soft hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

'Nahhh.' Still groggy.

'Rough day?'

'Maybe.' Was it? _Normal really. I just spent all my energy thinking too much. As usual._

'Then why're you sleeping at this odd time? Up.' Her mother turned towards the door. 'You'll be up all night.'

'I'll get my homework done then.' Mitti waved at the bag she'd dropped on the chair when she'd walked in earlier in the day.

Sleepy and still with a foot on the Dream Boat, Mitti rose and tottered off to splash her face with some water. The cold shock woke her properly and she looked at her puffy eyes in the mirror on top of the sink.

_Who says I'm tired? Fresh as day._ She ran wet fingers through her hair. _But I sleep too much. Ugh. I shouldn't have fallen asleep! Now I have all that stuff to write out. On a full Moon night too...She cursed herself. Lazy me._ She pursed her lips at her reflection.

_Hungry. Food._ The enticing smells from the kitchen made her mouth begin to water. _FOOD._

'Food!' Mitti exclaimed, with an expression that made her mother laugh, and dug in.

Mitti closed the door behind her and leaned back on it. She couldn't see much in the dark, only a rectangle of midnight blue on the opposite wall where the window was. It was open a small slit and the cool breeze coming through whispered on the skin of her bare arms and made her shiver a little. Dinner had ended with ice-cream, and the sugar rush was beginning. She felt alert but curiously calm. All her senses were pitched, but she felt no heart-pumping, breath-quickening effect of the rush. Instead, she pictured what she had to do and set about doing it. The light switch was flipped on, the books pulled out, the pencils at the ready.

Hours later, she looked up and rubbed the back of her neck. At one point during the night, she had turned off the light in the room and switched on the table-lamp. Its ochre glow bleached all the colour from her face, but her eyes shone brightly as she read through her work. She had the basics of the story on paper, now it was a matter of small details and polishing up the dialogue.

_Renee'll be pleased._ She thought, picturing her friend's face when she presented her with the skeleton of the drama. _Now it's a matter of building flesh._ She decided she needed to peek into the library the next day on her way from school.

_A good night's work, Leo would've said._ Mitti thought. She could see her friend behind her closed lids. The tawny mane; the grin that hinted the lethal hunter; the endless eyes that she felt like she could get lost in. She remembered their afternoons out by the stream, lying spread-eagled on the grass and looking at the glowing edges of the green canopy above them. The feeling of Sun on her face and Sun on her hair, hot blood rushing through her veins as she stood knee-deep in the water, trembling with anticipation waiting for him to rush at her and toss her in the air. She remembered his crouch and the playful narrowing of his eyes like a kitten, just about to pounce. She sighed; a long tongue of warm air from deep within her recesses.

_How long has it been?_

_Too long_-a voice seemed to say, a familiar voice ingrained in her very soul.

_Ten. I was ten years old and I didn't know better. She smiled a wry smile. Not that it'd have made a difference if I'd been older...I'd still have asked his name on first sight. I'd still have fallen head-over-heels for his charm. Run away from home to look at the midnight stars. Waited for him when he left and told him to stay away when he came._

At the last thought, her arms flexed automatically and she rose without realizing it and walked to the window. Looking at the curve of the crescent Moon, like a smile, she remembered her childhood friend, reliving memories as if they were from a less distant past. A part of her wanted to shed tears for a lost world, but a colder part, a part that wanted to fight back, held her back. She told herself that it was not lost yet, that one day the wheels set in motion almost a decade ago would catch her up in its up-spin and she'd ride it to a future she'd only dreamt of as a child.

_The fight of an afternoon! I won't let it ruin everything._ She vowed.

Under the twinkling of the stars and the insufficient glow of the new Moon, Mitti made a vow that she meant to see to before long.

As she purred to herself in satisfaction, she thought she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eyes.

_What is that?_ She was suddenly alert and on edge, carefully keeping her adrenaline surge in check. Her muscles coiled tightly in expectation. She squinted till she pinpointed the motion again, and saw a hooded silhouette edging by the wall of the building. It was a dense shadow, only a shade darker than the darkness that it walked in.

_Is it...?_ A million questions ricocheted around within her skull. Without hesitation, without fear, just a growing knot of anticipation and threatening euphoria, she climbed onto the window sill. Her muscles uncoiled and she made a leap for the tree opposite her window, perhaps not as gracefully as she'd have wanted, but as silently as the passing of moonbeams from one leaf to another. She landed on all fours on the closest branch able to support her, proceeding to slither down and away in pursuit of the mysterious gliding figure.

Mitti made no sound as she passed from one shadow to another, trailing her prey. She'd long ago learnt to walk through the leaf-strewn paths of a forest with soundless steps; the empty streets of the city and its concrete pavements were child's play in comparison. Inquisitive but cautious, she kept on her guard, reluctant of showing herself and ready to run at the slightest hint of danger. She was loathe to think herself a coward, but she couldn't deny her limits. Luck was hers however, for the figure didn't see her or hear her, keeping its head bowed and going swiftly on its way.

Finally, they reached the edge of a park at the northern part of the city.

_What now?_ Mitti wondered. As she watched, the black figure made its way to a point right in the middle of one of the numerous pedestrians' ways winding through the park grounds, and stopped. Even more careful than earlier, Mitti hid herself behind a tree.

After a moment's pause, the figure began to sway slowly. Only a little at first, a small tremble, but soon it was swinging violently from side to side. When the swinging had increased so much that Mitti was beginning to think that the figure would soon throw itself with great force to one side or the other, it stopped. Suddenly, the figure stopped moving and was as still as a statue; with it, everything else seemed to stop too; to Mitti, it seemed as if Time itself had stopped. The chorus of cicadas that'd been singing lullabies to the trees only moments before were struck mute without warning. The breeze died away. The branches ceased creaking and the leaves stopped shaking. With wide open eyes, Mitti watched the scene unfolding in front of her.

The figure began to writhe. It shuddered and contracted in terrific ways, making Mitti catch her breath more than once. It twisted and turned in such fantastic ways that Mitti was thankful for the silence-she felt that she'd have heard its shrieks of pain if the figure'd had a voice. She took her chance when she thought the figure was most preoccupied and shot up the tree behind which she was hiding, taking shelter among the branches that made her feel safer among their shadows. Unseen, she saw what came next with baited breath.

As the figure writhed, slowly two great lumps began to swell on what Mitti took to be its shoulders. Like the opening of a butterfly's wings as it emerged after chrysalis, the figure too spread its wings; huge wings that looked too big for it, strangely shaped and misshapen in Mitti's eyes. It flapped up and down experimentally, then with a powerful jump it launched itself into the air. It circled once overhead, then dove towards the side.

The creature, which Mitti couldn't name, was about to pass out of her range of vision, when her sharp ears heard a twang from somewhere in the park. Her heartbeat quickened as a black dart sped above, then with the sickening sound of embedding in flesh, caused the flying creature to veer. There were a few frantic flaps of the wings to regain composure, but the damage was done. The creature crashed down.

Mitti stayed up in her perch. She heard someone trampling through the park.

_The archer._ She concluded from the distinct sound of heavy foot falls. _A hunter with a deadly aim_. For she had no doubt that the mysterious creature was as good as dead.

_Where is this archer? Why didn't I notice? I should've. It could've easily be me with a dart sticking through my heart right now._ At this thought, she broke out in a cold sweat. She'd been so focused on not letting her target notice her that she'd forgotten the possibility of there being another party altogether. She prayed fervently that her stealth had been enough to keep her invisible.

_I can't risk it._ So she waited. And waited. As she waited, she strained her ears and pictured things that were happening beyond her vision.

Heavy boot treads. Then a thrashing among the bushes and a thud. Then silence. A rustling as if of something being dragged through the grass, but she wasn't sure as the sound grew fainter the farther it went.

_I still can't risk it._ So she kept on waiting. Gradually, without her realizing it, the park regained some measure of the normal. The leaves shuffled among themselves, as if shyly inviting the cicadas to sing. In a short while, the cicadas obliged. One bush resounded first, then a patch of wild flowers, then another bush and so on till a concert was underway. Without warning, a nocturnal bird flapped its wings loudly and flew away with a raucous cry.

The racket made Mitti start, jarring her alert senses. Muttering acid remarks to the bird under her breath, she carefully stretched her limbs while still sitting on the branch of the tree. She waited a while longer, letting her sore muscles regain their normal blood supply as she checked once again that all was clear and that her exit would be safe. When she was as sure as she could possibly be, she dropped down from the branch, bending her knees to cushion her fall and also to make as little sound as she could. She paused, tensed, for someone, anyone, to attack. When no one did, she set off on a swift run, back towards home, again passing unheard and unseen through the shadows.

In less time than she'd expected, Mitti was back under the tree outside her window. She scaled back up and climbed in through the open shutters.

With her clothes still on and her mind full, she collapsed on her bed.

* * *

**Disclaimer : I do not own Little Red Riding Hood!**

Finally. Something happens. And...Leo? Hoping to tell his part in the story soon.

**Read. Enjoy. Please review.**


	7. Reminiscence

Red, yellow, orange and gold; rust, chocolate, honey. The park was carpeted in a riot of autumn colours, rich as a Persian rug. There were more leaves on the ground than on the branches; even those that remained barely clung on as a chill wind swirled around them, tugging each leaf in turn, tempting them to take flight and come tumbling to the ground in a flurry of brilliant hues. It was a sly wind, a teasing wind that wound its way through the park, king of an empty kingdom.

No one ever came to there parts of the park, least of all when the weather was cold. It was wilder, woodier, with paths less distinct and crawling with last season's creepers that'd sent long tendrils groping across, hoping for the unwary wanderer. It was these ways that Mitti preferred. The solitude and the feeling of being one with nature. It was the closest she could get to a forest without actually stepping out of the city, the closest she could get to being lost since she'd moved from her childhood home. This was the closest to her favourite escapes as a child growing up in a town at the edge of a sprawling wood. She came here to pretend she was in the backyard of the little house with the red tiled roof, like a cottage right out of the pages of her beloved story books, which she missed so much. She always came alone, dreaming even as she picked her way among the roots and the leaves. Here, she could stop thinking too hard and let life go on its way as it would.

The next day, after school, Mitti went to the park. But for the first time since she'd moved to the city with her parents almost a decade ago, she didn't roam the achingly beautiful places. Instead, she chose to follow a band of loud pre-schoolers, their harassed looking teacher trailing behind, clutching numerous odds and ends of juice packets and water bottles, dolls and tennis balls, an overflowing bag and someone's half a sandwich. The group stumbled along on short stumpy legs, tripping over each other and breaking out in scuffles, then making peace over their cuts and bruises and the occasional ripped pocket. Not one of them had a care beyond who would get to walk with whom; Mitti walked with them and tried to keep herself from thinking too hard. She wasn't exceptionally successful, drifting off on her own lines of thought frequently, absent mindedly brushing off the dust from one toddler's downtrodden jacket, kissing another's bump from a fall and so on. Her far-away expression endeared her to the children, along with her carelessly knotted hair secured with a pencil and her occasional impish smile. With the children in awe of her, she found that they'd behave if she told them to. And though they ignored their teacher, the teacher was thankful to have them off her hands if only for a while.

Mitti helped happily. She'd concentrated especially hard at school, taking detailed notes of the lectures to the extent of writing even the most useless things that her teachers'd said, but at least it'd kept her too busy to think. When the last bell rang, her heart skipped a beat and she broke out in cold sweat, helpless against the inevitable. But Lady Luck smiled down on her when she found the children and their teacher on their way out of the school gates for a little trip, so she volunteered to go along. It hadn't been as much of a help as she'd hoped however, because the pictures in her head kept getting clearer and brighter by the minute. Finally, she gave in. It weighed down on her too much.

'Miss Evans?' Mitti said apologetically. 'I don't think I can stay any longer. I hope you can manage them on your own.'

Miss Evans smiled and assured Mitti that she'd be fine, although her face visibly paled when she glanced at one of the girls yelling at the top of her voice with something hidden in her hands as her friends demanded equally loudly that she show it to them. Mitti bid them a half hearted goodbye, then slowly walked away, trying to take as much time as possible. She consciously chose to go in a wide circle, avoiding the place she'd followed the mysterious figure to only the previous night. She wandered off and finally found an empty bench finely sprinkled in fall leaves, and dropped herself on it tiredly.

_Mitti stood on her toes at the very edge of the wide dirt road. She peered into the forest, biting her lips indecisively. It'd been only a few days since her dad'd taken her fishing. She stood at the very spot where her dad had walked off the road and into the dense undergrowth, making his way to the river that snaked through the trees. She'd caught the first fish of her life-though it was very small and they'd ended up releasing it back to the water-and she'd enjoyed herself immensely. Standing there, she felt the urge to visit the spot again, but she had never gone that way alone. There were two voices fighting in her head at the moment, one wondering what her parents would say if they found out she'd been out alone, the other pointing out that she had been told many times by her parents never to go beyond the garden fence alone and yet she was so far up the road that she couldn't even see the chimney top. She remembered the story of Hansel and Gretel and wondered if she should return home to fill her pockets with breadcrumbs. But Mitti was only eight, when children begin to become quite practical in their thoughts without realizing all the consequences of their actions._

_I must walk straight and neither left nor right. She told herself. Then later I'll just turn around and come right back to the road._

_And like all eight-year-olds, she was too naive to expect anything worse than her parents' scoldings, too adventurous to risk missing out on a new experience and new sights, and simply too dreamy to really think through everything before she put one foot in front of the other, then the next, and the next._

_The river was very loud-louder than she remembered, but that might be because she had been chattering so excitedly on her last trip here. This time, she noticed the roll and tumble of the river, interspersed with the soft splashes of the water lapping the shore. Green shadows and shafts of sunlight made an ever-changing checkerboard on the forest floor, dotted with clumps of roots where the trees grew too close. Mitti skipped from square to square, often struggling over particularly twisted knots on all fours. In her head, she was Mowgli in the rainforest, looking for Sher Khan, whom she planned to charm once and for all. Even when she wasn't climbing over the roots that bent at odd angles like knobbly knees, she crouched low, head cocked to one side, imagining she could hear the painful moans of her prey as it thrashed about in a trap set for it by hunters._

_I'll cut the ropes and let him go-she thought, brandishing a pretend-dagger in front of her-and if any of the hunters see us, I'll dart forward like this-here, she suddenly ran a few steps forward-before he even has a chance to raise his gun. Then, take this! And this! She thrust the imaginary dagger into an invisible enemy. I'll make him drop his gun and run for his life! She imagined Sher Khan's grateful purr, before he vanished with a whisk of his tail. She didn't mind-he would come back soon enough, to lead them both into more glorious adventure, but this time as friends on the same side. We'll fight the hunters! Slash their tents and bash their heads! Bite their toes and scratch their legs! We'll throw their guns into the river, empty their arrow-full of quivers and send them flying with a bat of the paws of the mighty Sher Khan! Now she was the tiger, with a coat the colour of vermilion paint, striped with midnight black, scaring everyone in her path with her glowing eyes. She prowled the jungle, king of everything that set foot on the earth floor, purring at her own power and glory. So she continued forward, all other thoughts blocked out. She forgot she meant to walk straight, didn't notice how far she'd gone. If anyone had asked her then and there, she wouldn't have been able to tell where she was or which way the road or even the river lay. Her eyes were glassy and unseeing as she wandered through her imaginary land, and her ears heard only her imagined sounds. She spun and dipped in time to some strange music that she alone heard; getting more and more lost every moment._

_It was in this dreamy state that Mitti somehow trotted out to the edge of the forest-not on the side of the road, but near the banks of the river. She was still immersed in her personal landscape, in the middle of another adventure, so it was a moment before she realised that the lion she'd been stalking in the African forest as the chief of the savages, had somehow really appeared in front of her._

_Mitti blinked, then blinked again. She found herself looking into a pair of green eyes set on a very sunburnt face, surrounded by a halo of blonde hair streaked with brown. The man was crouching on the banks of the river, very still, looking at her warily and ready to run or pounce at a moment's notice. The two of them sized each other up and down, then searched for answers in each other's eyes for what seemed like hours, brown looking into green, green into brown. They waited._

_Mitti felt laughter bubbling away in her stomach. Suddenly, she giggled, her eyes crinkling up into little slits. The man started and shrunk back a little, narrowing his eyes at her mistrustfully._

_'Hello.' Mitti waved at him. 'What's your name?'She thought she saw the blacks of his eyes expand in shock. 'I'm Matthaya, but you can call me Mitti.'_

_The man visibly gaped at her, his mouth slightly open._

_'Cat got your tongue?' Mitti giggled again. 'That means, can't you talk? I learned that in school today.'_

_Still, the man didn't say anything._

_'Are you here to fish?' Mitti took a step forward._

_The man retreated quickly, shaking his head violently._

_'I came here to fish once. I caught one, but it was this small.' Mitti indicated with her hand._

_'Who are you?' The man asked her in a deep voice that rumbled like storm clouds in the distance._

_'I live over there.' Mitti waved her hand indefinitely. 'Outside the forest. I came here to visit the river.'_

_The man nodded slowly._

_'What's your name?'_

_'They call me Leo.'_

_'L for Leo, L for Lion.' Mitti said in a singsong voice and laughed outright. She had a wonderful laugh, like bells in a spring wind, and it was her laugh more than anything else that made the man relax a little and stand up straight._

_'Did you know you look a little like the lions in my picture book? Your hair is just like a lion's mane.' Mitti pointed._

_'I've never seen your book.' He said._

_'That's right.' Mitti nodded as if she'd just heard something very wise. 'Are you here to fish?'_

_'No. I wanted to sit by the river and listen to it.'_

_'Listen to it?' Mitti asked, confused. She remembered how loud the rush of the water was. 'Don't you have any music to listen to?'_

_'I like this music better.'_

_'Oh.' She didn't know what to say. The man in front of her was tall and broad-chested, which made him look like quite a giant. In fact, he was taller and bigger than most people, but Mitti didn't notice because she was very little and all grown-ups were like giants to her._

_'Are you here to fish?'_

_'No, I didn't bring my fishing rod.'_

_'Then?'_

_'I came here to play. And explore.'_

_'You like to explore?'_

_'I love it!' She gushed. 'But don't tell my parents. I'm not supposed to come here alone.'_

_'I won't.'_

_'What happened to your face?' She pointed to three long scars that ran the length of his left cheek._

_'This?' He fingered the scars absent mindedly. 'Accident.'_

_'What happened?'_

_'I didn't listen to my parents.'_

_'Yeah, that happens sometimes. I got this mosquito bite because I didn't put on my t-shirt with the long sleeves even though my mom told me to.' Mitti tried in vain to find the little swollen bump on her arm, but couldn't, so she gave up._

_'You live here?'_

_'Of course not!' She giggled again. 'You're so silly. I don't live in the forest. You can't live in a forest. I live in a house outside this forest, but close to it.'_

_'Shouldn't you go back home then?'_

_'Hmmm...' She looked around her, avoiding his eyes._

_'Well?'_

_'I don't know which way to go.' She said quietly._

_'Oh.' He noticed that her eyes were slowly watering up. She glanced around once more, scared now._

_'Will you take me home?'_

_'I don't know where it is.'_

_The two of them were silent for a while, Mitti biting her lower lip to keep from crying._

_'Come sit here a bit.' He beckoned half-heartedly. To his surprise, she trotted mournfully over to him, flopping down on a patch of grass near his feet._

_'I wanna go home.' She said in a small voice, wiping away a stray tear. Without a word, he sat down too._

_'Aren't you afraid of me?' He asked after a short pause. She shook her head. 'Why not?'_

_'You don't look scary.'_

_'I'm a stranger.'_

_'A good stranger.'_

_'How'd you know?'_

_'I don't know.' She stuck out her lower lip._

_They looked out to the swirling river. He knew he should leave the spot before someone saw them, but he couldn't bring himself to allow the lost little girl to stay here all alone, perhaps for hours or even days. A forest is always full of dangerous things._

_'You don't know where you live?'_

_'I should've listened to my parents.' She said after shaking her head, making her tresses swing forward to hide her expression._

_'How did you come here?'_

_'From the road.'_

_'You followed the road?'_

_'At first. Then I walked into the forest and got lost.'_

_'If I take you to the road, can you go back home?'_

_'Do you know where the road is?' She sat up straighter, her eyes beseeching._

_'I do.'_

_'Will you take me there?'_

_He nodded and flashed a little smile at her. She beamed in return._

_'Than you!'_

_'Do you know the way from the road then?'_

_'It passes in front of my house. I'll be able to walk home.' She said with all the confidence she could muster. She was visibly relieved, relaxed._

_'Shall I take you now?'_

_'Now?' She thought a moment. 'My feet hurt. How about in a minute?'_

_'Alright.'_

_They lapsed back to silence. She had no more fears or worries-the kind man'd said he'd take her to the road and she knew she could walk home from there on. She glanced around inquisitively-it was a different site from where she'd been fishing earlier._

_Leo observed the little girl beside him through the corner of his eyes, wondering how on Earth he had managed to gain her trust._

_'You're right; the river really is nice to listen to.' She said thoughtfully._

_Kid-Leo thought, shaking his head bemusedly. He felt a little dizzy from the strange fuzzy feeling that was warming him to his very fingertips._

* * *

**Disclaimer : I do not own Little Red Riding Hood!**

I'm sorry I couldn't update earlier-I'm a slow writer what with my classes having started and all. I hope anyone who's been reading will bear with me.

**Read. Enjoy. Please review.**


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